If you ask people in straight-out terms, do you support physician-assisted suicide,
you'll get two-thirds to three-quarters who will say yes. If you ask a different
question, would you rather have good palliative care, good hospice care, or
physician-assisted suicide, people will say, "I would much rather have good
hospice care" once they really understand what it is.
I think there is a preference for good palliative care if you're forced to make
a decision between good palliative care and physician-assisted suicide. The
question that hasn't been asked and that should be is would you rather have
both: Would you rather have good hospice care, good palliative care, and access
to physician-assisted suicide as a last resort? My guess is that people want
all three.
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I have philosophical and social policy problems with physician-assisted suicide.
My sense is that P.A.S. could be used as an apology or as a pressure valve-- inhibiting
an adequate social response to the true public health crisis that surrounds
end-of-life care. If greater efforts were made to improve end-of-life care,
then there would be less energy spent on promoting P.A.S. as a solution to this
crisis.
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